While Canadians Continue to Suffer Harper is Doling Out More Corporate Welfare

We learned recently that the American firm, Pratt & Whitney has received 300 million dollars in a single day from Canadian taxpayers, in what is being called a "repayable investment".

In other words, a loan.

This on top of another "returnable investment" of 350 million four years ago, none of which has been paid back.

The official government news release explains the $300-million federal "investment" is part of a $1-billion research project by Pratt & Whitney to develop a new generation of aircraft engines at facilities near Montreal and Toronto. Industry Minister Tony Clement says the money for Pratt & Whitney will be used to improve the company's civil and military aircraft engines. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press) The release does not mention the company is also getting an additional $178 million from public coffers in the form of federal and provincial tax credits.

The government announcement also claims the deal will "create and maintain an average of more than 700 highly skilled jobs during the project work phase, and more than 2,000 jobs during the 15-year benefits phase." The company later explained that it hopes to hire about 200 new staff for the research and development project, expected to take about five years. At $300 million from taxpayers, that works out to $300,000 a year per job.

And why isn't the company repaying this money, or at least pay off the first loan before getting another? As Greg Weston points out, 'The company isn’t exactly broke. Pratt & Whitney Canada is a subsidiary of a huge U.S. conglomerate, United Technologies Corp., which last year posted profits of $4.2 billion on sales of almost $53 billion'.

I wonder how many corporate boards Stephen Harper and Tony Clement will sit on after we throw the bums out.